You can connect and chain any multiple low, full, and high- or super-speed USB hubs and devices to a client computer. Careful planning and knowledge of hub behavior and limitations can help ensure that your devices work optimally.

USB physical bus topology defines how USB devices connect to the client computer. Support for USB device passthrough to a virtual machine is available if the physical bus topology of the device on the client computer does not exceed tier seven. The first tier is the USB host controller and root hub. The last tier is the target USB device. You can cascade up to five tiers of external or internal hubs between the root hub and the target USB device. An internal USB hub attached to the root hub or built into a compound device counts as one tier.

The quality of the physical cables, hubs, devices, and power conditions can affect USB device performance. To ensure the best results, keep the client computer USB bus topology as simple as possible for the target USB device, and use caution when you deploy new hubs and cables into the topology. The following conditions can affect USB behavior:

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Connecting or chaining multiple external USB hubs increases device enumeration and response time, which can make the power support to the connected USB devices uncertain.

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Chaining hubs together increases the chance of port and hub error, which can cause the device to lose connection to a virtual machine.

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Certain hubs can cause USB device connections to be unreliable, so use care when you add a new hub to an existing setup. Connecting certain USB devices directly to the client computer rather than to a hub or extension cable might resolve their connection or performance issues. In some cases, you must remove and reattach the device and hub to restore the device to a working state.

USB Compound Devices

For compound devices, the virtualization process filters out the USB hub so that it is not visible to the virtual machine. The remaining USB devices in the compound appear to the virtual machine as separate devices. You can add each device to the same virtual machine or to different virtual machines if they run on the same host.